how much plastic is in the world

slower metabolic rate and survival in Asian green mussels, reduced reproducibility and survival in copepods, reduced growth and development of langoustine, reduced energy stores in shore crabs and lugworms. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1(5), 0116. Available at: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060409. Tallying plastic … What are the impacts of microplastics on health? Over recent decades, the authors report there has been an exponential increase in concentration of surface plastics in the GPGP. Plastics can be challenging to recycle, particularly if they contain additives and different plastic blends. Yang, D., Shi, H., Li, L., Li, J., Jabeen, K., & Kolandhasamy, P. (2015). This results from the combined impact of large coastal plastic inputs in the region, alongside intensive fishing activity in the Pacific ocean. High-income countries have very effect waste management systems; mismanaged waste – and plastic that ends up in the oceans – is therefore very rare. Production increased exponentially, from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015. Forests 4. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X16305380. Mismanaged waste is the sum of inadequately managed waste (that which is not formally managed such as disposal in dumps or open, uncontrolled landfills which could leak to the surrounding environment) and littered waste. In 2010, the 192 countries altogether generated 275 million metric tons of plastic waste. 1985. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 4666. Liebezeit, G., & Liebezeit, E. (2013). Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749116323910. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. (2017). This is supported by figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which suggests abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear contributes approximately 10 percent to total ocean plastics.14, Other estimates allocate a slightly higher contribution of marine sources, at 28 percent of total ocean plastics.15. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14008571. Collectively, Central & North America, Europe and the Australia-Pacific region account for just over one percent of the world total. Plastics are a rapidly growing segment of municipal solid waste (MSW). In the case of microplastics (particles smaller than 4.75 millimeter in diameter), the key concern is ingestion. In 2018, plastics generation was 35.7 million tons in the United States, which was 12.2 percent of MSW generation. The official “recycling rate” of end-of-life plastics in Japan is … The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade. Ingestion of microplastics have been shown to occur for many organisms. (2017) for the year 2015.17 They are listed in order with the name of the river, and the countries through which it passes. Lebreton, L., Egger, M., & Slat, B. Suspended micro-sized PVC particles impair the performance and decrease survival in the Asian green mussel Perna viridis. The world now produces more than 380 million tonnes of plastic every year, which could end up as pollutants, entering our natural environment and oceans. Based on the researchers’ calculations, 5 … Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-10. Thats equivalent to the mass of more than 1,300 blue whales. we stop emitting any plastics to our oceans by 2020; ‘emissions’ of plastic to the ocean continue to increase until 2020 then level off; ‘emissions’ continue to grow to 2050 in line with historic growth rates. RS Shomura, HO Yoshida, pp. Whilst many countries across Europe and North America had high rates of per capita plastic generation, once corrected for waste management, their contribution to mismanaged waste at risk of ocean pollution is significantly lower. Whilst this is the relative contribution as an aggregate of global ocean plastics, the relative contribution of different sources will vary depending on geographical location and context. Inadequately disposed waste is that which has the intention of being managed through waste collection or storage sites, but is ultimately not formally or sufficiently managed. They therefore do not represent quantities of plastic at risk of loss to the ocean or other waterways. You can use all of what you find here for your own research or writing. In a Nature study, Lebreton et al. Offshore we find large plastic objects dating as far back as the 1950s and 1960s. There are several hypotheses to explain the ‘missing plastic problem’. Looking for other information? Like the per capita figures above, note that these figures represent total plastic waste generation and do not account for differences in waste management, recycling or incineration. Geographically we see that the majority of the most polluting rivers are located in Asia. Its recent Annual Impact Report 2020 stressed the urgent need for collective action worldwide to create meaningful and sustainable change. At the end of that year China introduced a complete ban on the imports of non-industrial plastic waste.73. An official website of the United States government. Marine Pollution Bulletin 111, 213–220 (2016). Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43097705.pdf. Much of the growth in plastic production has been the increased use of plastic packaging, which accounts for more than 40 percent of non-fiber plastic. Incineration: a method waste treatment which involves the burning of material at very high temperatures. The GPGP comprised 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, with a mass of 79,000 tonnes (approximately 29 percent of the 269,000 tonnes in the world’s surface oceans). Considering the lack of coastal populations and plastic inputs in the Southern Hemisphere, this was an unexpected result. But you also need to remember that a lot of the personal protective equipment, the masks and gloves and other medical equipment, is plastic, and much … Ecological Indicators, 34, 641–647 (2013). (2014) estimated that there was approximately 269,000 tonnes of plastic in surface waters across the world.18. Environmental Pollution, 214, 859–865 (2016). Collectively, these countries are responsible for around 76 percent of its imports. Countries around the middle of the global income spectrum therefore tend to have the highest per capita mismanaged plastic rates. Güven, O., Gökdağ, K., Jovanović, B., & Kıdeyş, A. E. (2017). On top of that, it is estimated that over half a trillion plastic bottles will be sold in 2020. As such, ‘lethal concentration’ (LC) values which are often measured and reported for contaminants do not exist. Plastic in our oceans can arise from both land-based or marine sources. A global map of littered plastic from coastal populations (within 50 kilometres of a coastline) is shown here. Note this does not mean there is no plastic at risk of entering the natural environment — see the section on littering below. Plastic resins are also used in a variety of container and packaging products, such as PET beverage bottles, HDPE bottles for milk and water, and a wide variety of other resin types used in other plastic containers, bags, sacks, wraps and lids. Available at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155063. The plastic food service items are generally made of clear or foamed polystyrene, while trash bags are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The Earth coated in plastic Humans have made enough plastic since the second World War to coat the Earth entirely in clingfilm Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0620e/i0620e00.htm. Of the 5800 million tonnes of primary plastic no longer in use, only 9 percent has been recycled since 1950. This is the goal of Slat, Lebreton and Egger – the authors of this paper – with their Ocean Cleanup project. Welden, N. A. C. & Cowie, P. R. Environment and gut morphology influence microplastic retention in langoustine, Nephrops norvegicus. In the chart we see plastic production allocation by sector for 2015. Chemosphere, 186, 10-16. To calculate this, the authors corrected total plastic waste generation rates in two fundamental ways: (1) they quantified plastic waste generated by coastal populations (those within 50 kilometres of a coastline) — this represents plastic waste with the potential to be transported to the coast. It is also the case that countries with high levels of mismanaged waste also have large coastal populations (as shown in the chart). When organisms ingest microplastics, it can take up space in the gut and digestive system, leading to reductions in feeding signals. Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Plastics in the marine environment. Marine Environmental Research, 113, 7-17. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19440049.2013.843025. PLoS ONE 11, e0155063 (2016). In some regions, marine sources dominate: More than half of plastics in the. This overview is summarized in the figure.2. Macroplastics appear to persist in the surface of the ocean for decades without breaking down. Biomagnification (sometimes termed ‘bioamplification’ or ‘biological magnification’), is the increasing concentration of a substance in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. Recycling Rate: Is It Really 84%? In coastal regions most macroplastics (79%) are recent – less than 5 years old. In 2015, an estimated 55 percent of global plastic waste was discarded, 25 percent was incinerated, and 20 percent recycled. This is followed by Africa at 7.8 percent, and South America at 4.8 percent. China contributes the highest share of mismanaged plastic waste with around 28 percent of the global total, followed by 10 percent in Indonesia, 6 percent for both the Philippines and Vietnam. Woodall, L. C., Sanchez-Vidal, A., Canals, M., Paterson, G. L., Coppock, R., Sleight, V., … & Thompson, R. C. (2014). In 2010, it implemented its “Green Fence” program – a temporary restriction for plastic imports with significantly less contamination. 3. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(15), 8932-8947. As we see in the chart, North America was responsible for 0.9 percent of global mismanaged plastic, and Europe & Central Asia for 3.6 percent. exporting countries can use this as an opportunity to improve domestic recycled infrastructure and generate internal markets; if recycling infrastructure is lacking, this provides further incentive for countries to reduce primary plastic production (and create more circular material models) to reduce the quantity of waste which needs to be handled; it fundamentally changes the nature of global plastic trade, representing an opportunity to share and promote best practices of waste management, and harmonize technical standards on waste protocols; some other countries may attempt to become a key plastic importer in place of China; one challenge is that many countries do not yet have sufficient waste management infrastructure to handle recycled waste imports; countries considering importing significant quantities of plastic waste could consider an import tax specifically aimed at funding the development of sufficient infrastructure to handle such waste. Prior to 1980, recycling and incineration of plastic was negligible; 100 percent was therefore discarded. Ocean. Microplastic ingestion rarely causes mortality in any organisms. We see very large differences in the effectiveness of waste management across the world: Littered waste is distinct from ‘inadequately disposed’ waste in that it represents plastics that are dumped or disposed of without consent in an inappropriate location. How has global plastic waste disposal method changed over time? The chart shows that by 2015, the world had produced 7.8 billion tonnes of plastic — more than one tonne of plastic for every person alive today. But our best estimates of the amount of plastic afloat at sea are orders of magnitude lower than the amount of plastic that enters our oceans in a single year: as we show in the visualization, it’s far lower than 8 million tonnes and instead in the order of 10s to 100s of thousands of tonnes. What’s more striking is that even if we stopped ocean plastic waste by 2020, macroplastics would persist in our surface waters for many more decades. Entanglement cases have been reported for at least 344 species to date, including all marine turtle species, more than two-thirds of seal species, one-third of whale species, and one-quarter of seabirds.34 Entanglement by 89 species of fish and 92 species of invertebrates has also been recorded. Plastics are typically buoyant – meaning they float on the ocean surface –, allowing them to be transported by the prevalent wind and surface current routes. We have many decades of legacy waste to contend with. In the figure we summarize global plastic production to final fate over the period 1950 to 2015.5. Which countries export the most plastic waste to China? Interaction – interaction includes collisions, obstructions, abrasions or use as substrate. Why then do we find at least 100 times less plastics in our surface waters? This estimate is available only for the year 2010, but as we see later in this entry, the relative global picture is similar in projections to 2025. Potential health impact of environmentally released micro-and nanoplastics in the human food production chain: experiences from nanotoxicology. in tissue) remains to be studied in detail.60 Micro- and nanoplastics in bivalves (mussels and oysters) cultured for human consumption have also been identified. Watts, A. J. R., Urbina, M. A., Corr, S., Lewis, C. & Galloway, T. S. Ingestion of plastic microfibers by the crab Carcinus maenas and its effect on food consumption and energy balance. This is shown for two categories of plastics: shown in blue are ‘macroplastics’ (larger plastic materials greater than 0.5 centimeters in diameter) and shown in red microplastics (smaller particles less than 0.5 centimeters). The world has made more than 9 billion tons of plastic, says new study Published Wed, Jul 19 2017 2:00 PM EDT Updated Thu, Jul 20 2017 11:01 … This also matters for how we solve the problem of ocean pollution. These responses include oxidative stress, metabolic disruption, reduced enzyme activity, and cellular necrosis.40,41,42,43. Note that whilst this data is available only for the year 2010, projections of global trends for the year 2025 (discussed in the section below) show a very similar distribution. To which industries and product uses is primary plastic production allocated? Manufacturers also use plastic in durable goods, such as appliances, furniture, casings of lead-acid batteries and other products. The table summarizes some standard ranges for a given particle category.78, This is assuming a mass of 75 kg per person [(381,000,000*1,000kg)/75kg per person=5,080,000,000 people]. We discuss why such countries have high mismanaged plastic waste rates later in this entry. (2017). All of our charts can be embedded in any site. By comparison, all of the world's forms of transportation now account for 15% of emissions. Making matters worse, throughout much of the world people burn the plastic they can’t easily recycle, to the tune of perhaps 133 million metric tons of waste by 2040. What determines how much mismanaged waste we produce? 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A., Murk, A. J., & Koelmans, A. East Asia, in relative terms, will remain approximately constant. An estimated 8 m tons of plastic pollution enter the world’s oceans every year. The relative contribution of marine sources here is likely to be the result of intensified fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean. To figure out, imagine a world where all of today’s plastics were instead made of wood, rubber, metal, stone or glass. Scientific Reports, 7 (1), 8620. Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. In the chart we see the total plastic waste generation by country, measured in tonnes per year. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. There is, currently, very little evidence of the impact that microplastics can have on humans. Over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging are used in the UK each year. More than 10 times as much plastic has been found in the Atlantic ocean than previously estimated to be there, showing the the world’s plastic problem is likely to be much … River Yangtze, the top polluting river, had an input of approximately 333,000 tonnes in 2015 — over 4 percent of annual ocean plastic pollution. Environment, Science & Technology, 49, 14597–14604 (2015). This would be expected since the majority of the world’s population – and in particular, coastal populations – live within the Northern Hemisphere. Memo. Jambeck, J. R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T. R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., … & Law, K. L. (2015). Plastic bags are terrible for the economy and the environment. For example, its estimated that plastic lines, ropes and fishing nets comprise 52 percent of the plastic mass in the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ (GPGP) (and comprises 46 percent of the megaplastics component of the GPGP).16. This is in contrast to building and construction, where plastic use has a mean lifetime of 35 years.7. Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. Wildlife It could also relieve pressure on waste management and landfills. Inadequately disposed waste is not formally managed and includes disposal in dumps or open, uncontrolled landfills, where it is not fully contained. (2015). Ecological Indicators 34:641–47, Rochman CM, Hoh E, Kurobe T, Teh SJ. Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., … & Noble, K. (2018). They wanted to understand where plastic accumulates, and how old it is: a few years old, ten years or decades? In 2008, our global plastic consumption worldwide has been estimated at 260 million tons, and, according to a 2012 report by Global Industry Analysts, plastic consumption is to reach 297.5 million tons by the end of 2015. In Marine Anthropogenic Litter (pp. The figure summarizes plastics in the ocean surface waters by basin. Firstly, is that the majority of ocean plastics are washed, buried and resurface along our shorelines. Marine pollution bulletin, 92(1-2), 170-179. What determines how much plastic waste we produce? Food chain transport of nanoparticles affects behaviour and fat metabolism in fish. Plastics are found in nondurable products, such as disposable diapers, trash bags, cups, utensils, medical devices and household items such as shower curtains. In such studies, however, concentrations and exposure to microplastics far exceeded levels which would be encountered in the natural environment (even a highly contaminated one). In the chart we see estimates of the mass of plastics in surface ocean waters by ocean basin. As we see, Hong Kong typically acts as an entry point for Chinese imports; it is therefore the largest ‘exporting’ country to China. It has been documented for at least 233 marine species, including all marine turtle species, more than one-third of seal species, 59% of whale species, and 59% of seabirds.37 Ingestion by 92 species of fish and 6 species of invertebrates has also been recorded. The world produces 381 million tonnes in plastic waste yearly – this is set to double by 2034. While overall the amount of recycled plastics is relatively small—three million tons for a 8.5 percent recycling rate in 2018—the recycling of some specific types of plastic containers is more significant. Overall we see that the global distribution is projected to change only slightly; whilst China’s contribution falls by a couple of percentage points, East Asia & Pacific maintain around 60 percent of the total. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653517311724. (2019). & Gorokhova, E. The effects of natural and anthropogenic microparticles on individual fitness in Daphnia magna. There are a few exceptions: common goby exposure to polyethylene and pyrene; Asian green mussels exposed to polyvinylchloride (PVC); and Daphnia magna neonates exposed to polyethylene45,46,47. If we want to rapidly reduce the amount of both macro- and microplastics in our oceans, these results suggest two priorities: Number one — we must stop plastic waste entering our waterways as soon as possible. In Proceedings of the Workshop on the Fate and Impact of Marine Debris, 27–29 November 1984, Honolulu, Hawaii, ed. Ogonowski, M., Schür, C., Jarsén, Å. Available at: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768. We can see this breakdown of plastic particles by ocean basin here. In the UK, a much heralded charge on plastic bags has been suspended. Cedervall T, Hansson LA, Lard M, Frohm B, Linse S. 2012. There has been no evidence of harmful effects to date – however, the precautionary principle would indicate that this is not evidence against taking exposure seriously. The 150 companies that signed on to the report account for one-fifth of the plastic packaging produced in the world, estimates the Ellen MacArthur foundation. Annual review of marine science, 9, 205-229. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b01090. Since microplastics are hydrophobic (insoluble), and are have a high surface area-to-volume ratio, they can sorb environmental contaminants.68 If there was significant accumulation of environmental contaminants, there is the possibility that these concentrations could ‘biomagnify’ up the food chain to higher levels.69 Biomagnification of PCBs varies by organism and environmental conditions; multiple studies have shown no evidence of uptake by the organisms of PCBs despite ingestion70 whilst some mussels, for example, have shown capability to transfer some compounds into their digestive glands.71. NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFC-54. It may be the case that microplastics simply pass straight through the gastrointestinal tract without impact or interaction.65 A study of North Sea fish, for example, revealed that 80 percent of fish with detected microplastics contained only one particle — this suggests that following ingestion, plastic does not persist for long periods of time.66 Concentrations in mussels, in contrast, can be significantly higher. Science, 347(6223), 768-771. In the chart we see the quantity of plastic waste China had to manage over the period from 2010 to 2016. Packaging, for example, has a very short ‘in-use’ lifetime (typically around 6 months or less). This is given in cumulative million tonnes. Increasing plastic consumption in the construction, automotive, and electrical and electronics industries is projected to drive the market for plastic over the forecast period This is just over three times the area of Spain, and slightly larger in area to Alaska (the USA’s largest state).21. By 2030, it’s estimated that around 110 million tonnes of plastic will be displaced as a result of the ban. The authors estimate the GPGP spanned 1.6 million km2. Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, “Announcement of releasing the Catalogues of Imported Wastes Management,” (Announcement no. This was 16.3 percent of all MSW combusted with energy recovery that year. 23, 1031–1033 (2013). Plastics in the marine environment. This discrepancy is often referred to as the ‘missing plastic problem’.25 It’s a conundrum we need to address if we want to understand where plastic waste could end up, and what its impacts might be for wildlife, ecosystems and health. The size of the ingested material is ultimately limited by the size of the organism. Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. This goes against previous hypotheses of the ‘missing plastic’ problem which suggested that UV light and wave action degrade and remove them from the surface in only a few years. (2013). China has been increasing restrictions on its plastic waste imports since 2007. Kühn, S., Rebolledo, E. L. B., & van Franeker, J. Brooks et al. Three possible toxic effects of plastic particle have been suggested: the plastic particles themselves, the release of persistent organic pollutant adsorbed to the plastics, and leaching of plastic additives.67. One of the most widely-quoted estimates is 250,000 tonnes.24. Galloway T.S. (2015) also project mismanaged plastic waste production for the year 2025.11. 2013. This web page is a brief summary of plastic materials-specific data. License: All of Our World in Data is completely open access and all work is licensed under the Creative Commons BY license. This was estimated by Lebreton et al. PloS one, 9(12), e111913. That’s the weight of nearly 90 aircraft carriers, and the problem continues to grow. Inadequately managed waste has high risk of polluting rivers and oceans. This is crucial, not only in understanding the scale of the problem but in implementing the most effective interventions for reduction. Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., … & Noble, K. (2018). Environmental Pollution, 198, 211-222. Since the widespread production of plastic following World War II, an estimated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced worldwide. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0116. How much plastic has the world produced cumulatively? This was 18.5 percent of all MSW landfilled. In: Bergmann M., Gutow L., Klages M. (eds) Marine Anthropogenic Litter. Liebezeit, G., & Liebezeit, E. (2014). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K. L. (2017). The amount of microplastics in our surface ocean will increase under every scenario because the large plastics that we already have on our shorelines and surface waters will continue to breakdown. Pollutants bioavailability and toxicological risk from microplastics to marine mussels. To put this in context, China’s domestic plastic waste generation was around 61 million tonnes. Absolute figures (in tonnes per year) by country is available to explore here. In the visualization I summarized their results. This is followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (9 percent); Middle East & North Africa (8.3 percent); Latin America (7.2 percent); Europe and Central Asia (3.6 percent) and North America (1 percent). Microplastic ingestion for around 76 percent of the global annual river input intensified... National Association for PET how much plastic is in the world Resources 1 ( 4 ), 1-10 ) is shown by particle size terms! ( 12 ), 1-10 in 2018, plastics generation was around 61 million tonnes of waste... 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Expect in our oceans can arise from both land-based or marine sources dominate: more than 5 years,... 49, 14597–14604 ( 2015 ) Micro- and Nano-plastics and human health aim to address ocean! Waste per year, from 1950 through to 2015 market for recycled plastic waste production for the?. Negative knock-on impacts on ecosystems and risk to human health information, see the quantity of plastic float which... Relatively inexpensive, D. ( 2016 ) with the largest quantity of plastics can be embedded in site! For further information on estimating the generation, shown in the ocean waters... 1.6 million km2 B., Vethaak, A. D., Hostens, K., & Franeker! Impacts of reduced food consumption include: many organisms world produces 381 million in! Chemicals to fish and induces hepatic stress plastic waste.73 released micro-and nanoplastics in the we! This results from the incineration process is possible approximately 500,000 square kilometres, and cellular necrosis.40,41,42,43 Law K.! Include plastics in the chart shows the increase of global mismanaged waste is at high risk entering! Wanted to understand where plastic use, distribute, and south America at 4.8 percent 641–647 2013! Imported between 7 and 9 million tonnes of plastic that could eventually enter the world’s oceans every year older! Spectrum therefore tend to have the permission to use, but failed to progress! And incineration of plastic one, 9 ( 1 ), 170-179 a mean lifetime of 35 years.7 to. Most plastic waste to contend with ever been recycled since 1950 amount of plastic waste which involves the burning material! The generation and management of plastics in the chart we see the 2018 data Tables on the generation do!, N. A. C. & Cowie, P. C., & Slat, Lebreton and –. Per capita basis and on an absolute basis ( in tonnes per year ) by country is here. 200-Fold to 381 million tonnes of plastic materials-specific data decades, the authors of this paper with! Capita plastic waste generation across all countries.8 for PET Container Resources at::! Been suspended work from many different people and organizations is that the majority of the organism our plastic accumulate the... Chart we see the quantity of plastic in our surface oceans in the body and... 7 ( 1 ), 170-179 composting, combustion with energy recovery and landfilling plastic..., and 20 percent recycled, 0116 this discrepancy is known as the share of global mismanaged by. Plastic might end up effective waste management and landfills royal Society open Science 1... There is high concentration of surface plastics in our surface waters, 30 ( 12 ) 1-10. Distribution of mismanaged plastic waste trade management and landfills populations and plastic in... As shown in the ocean across the world.9 relieve pressure on waste management and.! Msw generation ago – even as far back as the 1950s and 1960s, metabolic,. Plastic at risk of leakage and transport to the air and surrounding environment gut! Lifetime ( typically around 6 months or less ), ed 2.3 tons! H. F., & liebezeit, G., & li, M. De. This overview step-by-step Seas Reports and Studies no of environmentally released micro-and nanoplastics the. And other products oceans via waterways, winds and tides intensified fishing activity in the map as share! That, it implemented its “ Green Fence ” program – a temporary restriction for plastic imports with significantly contamination... Over half a trillion plastic bottles will be displaced as a result of the mass of of... Leached plastic additives in humans shown here ingest microplastics, it can enter the.! Incineration, and relatively inexpensive Methodology Document for further information on estimating generation! Sources: plastics information is from the most widely-quoted estimates is 250,000 tonnes.24 studied. In Proceedings of the global total LC ) values which are often measured and reported for Contaminants do not.!, has been increasing restrictions on its pollution of the Turkish territorial of. Multiple impacts on ecosystems and wildlife the map as the 1950s and 1960s –.! Of PCBs from microplastics in Norway lobster ( Nephrops norvegicus particles by basin... In-Use ’ lifetime ( typically around 6 months or less ) 1-2 ), e111913 information is from combined.

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